This invention relates generally to wheelchairs and more particularly to a wheelchair foot rest latch for locking and releasing the wheelchair foot rest supports for swinging from first operable positions to out-of-the-way second positions to provide easy access to the wheelchair.
Most conventional wheelchairs include foot rests on foot rest support tubes coupled to the front frame portion of the wheelchair. The foot rest members themselves are usually arranged to pivot upwardly to change the plane of the foot rest from a horizontal to a vertical position to thereby make access to the chair easier for a patient. In addition, the foot rest support tubes themselves in certain designs are arranged to swing to an out-of-the-way position to again provide for easier access to and from the chair. In these latter swingable type structures, the foot rest support tubes themselves can then also be readily removed entirely from the wheelchair if desired.
To secure the swingable type of foot rest support tubes in a first operable position wherein the foot rest members are supported in front of the seat for receiving a patient's feet, each foot rest support tube is provided with a sloping cam surface arranged to engage under a downwardly biased plunger vertically movable in guiding means secured to the front frame of the wheelchair such that when the foot rest support member swings from its out-of-the-way second position towards its first position, it cams the plunger upwardly until the plunger drops in the plunger receiving opening at which point, the foot rest support tube is in its first operable position. In order to release the foot rest support tube, either a patient or nurse must reach forwardly and lift the plunger from the plunger receiving opening, the mechanism presently available for carrying out this operation takes the form of a lever member which must be lifted in order to raise the plunger. The hardware involved even though the mechanism constitutes a small part of the overall wheelchair is relatively expensive and complicated for the particular job it is designed to perform.
A more serious problem from the standpoint of the patient is the fact that the lever must be lifted upwardly in some manner to raise the plunger and thus release the foot rest support tube. For a severely handicapped patient, it might be difficult if not impossible to grasp the lever and raise the same.